


Was That a Smile?

by atlas_white



Series: Visions From Night Vale [4]
Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Cecil is albinistic, Fluff, M/M, They're (not yet) married
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-27
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-09-01 08:43:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16761796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atlas_white/pseuds/atlas_white
Summary: Carlos is sure he just saw Cecil smile.It's really nice, he thinks, when Cecil smiles.He doesn't do it often enough.





	Was That a Smile?

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place fairly early in their relationship.

“Have I entered an _alternate_ _universe_ or did you really just crack a smile for me?”

Cecil’s cheeks turned rosy, and he quickly looked away, clasping his hands together with all the tender anxiety of a schoolboy. He felt every bit as exposed as one, scrutinized and red-faced, his every mistake the most humiliating he’d ever made, his every movement a risk unwillingly taken.

Carlos was laughing, or rather he was chuckling, and his dark brown eyes were crinkled and sparkling, and his perfect teeth were on display, white like clouds yet brighter than the brightest of them. The beauty of that smile and of that chuckle stung Cecil like a scorpion, paralyzing him from the inside.

“Hey, c’mon, Cecil,” the scientist said, taking a step closer, several feet away yet too close, much too close. If he came much closer, he’d be at arm’s length, and what then? Cecil would be able to reach out and touch him. His milky fingertips, so vulnerable to sunburn, would make contact with Carlos’s lab coat. He shivered just to think of it.

“Don’t stop smiling just because I said something,” Carlos said sweetly, his voice like honey; sweeter than sugar, thicker than blood. He was almost close enough to touch. “I _like_ seeing you smile. You don’t do it enough.”

Cecil glanced at Carlos’s face, a dare, a chance. His cheeks were still very red, his eyes big and blue, pupils dusty brown in the light. His full lips were parted as if to speak, yet he said nothing because what he saw when he looked at Carlos took away his breath and his words and his suave radio personality voice.

Carlos came into that invisible circle, the length of an arm, and very lightly he touched Cecil’s shoulder, and the redness in Cecil’s cheeks spread until it had covered most of his face, putting colour where it had been missing.

“Hey, Cecil… Talk to me.”

Cecil pressed his lips together, but they formed a smile before he could stop them, and he averted his gaze again, his body shaking. He was chuckling, or rather he was laughing.

“You really like seeing me smile?” he asked, light-headed and flustered. The attention made him feel almost _delirious_. It was like a carnival ride, but he loved it, he wanted more of it.

“I _really_ like seeing you smile,” Carlos affirmed, rubbing Cecil’s shoulder with his palm.

“You make me want to smile,” Cecil said, still with a reluctant smile on his face, daring once again to look at Carlos.

“Good, I’ll work harder on that then,” Carlos replied. “I’ll have to perform some experiments to see how I can get you to smile more. Highly scientific procedure, that.” He nodded importantly, a gesture which Cecil found himself mirroring. “Let’s get started right away.”

“Oh? How do we, um, do that?” Cecil asked, tilting his head a little bit.

Carlos tugged Cecil into a hug and kissed his reddened cheek. “Let’s start like this.”


End file.
